Somewhere Between

There are plenty of tears shed on the screen and even more by the movie theater audience,myself included.The movie does a beautiful job portraying the lives of the Chinese adoptees and the many challenges they face.One thing that I took away from Somewhere Between is the need the children shared in knowing about their heritage.For some it is a desire to perhaps visit the orphanage or village they came from or for others it may be too track down their birth parents.The movie is an absolute delight and will appeal to a wide range of movie-goers,but will especially touch those in the adoption community who can relate first hand about the heartfelt journey of adoption.

This documentary is wonderful. If you have any interest in international adoption and how adopted children adjust and grow up in a different culture, this is a great watch. I cried! God bless the wonderful families who open their hearts and homes to children in need.

First, I want to say, I am not an adoptive parent, nor am I adopted myself. I have met someone who has adopted a girl from China, and am aware of the issues that the one child rule raises for girls in China.

Before this I saw a documentary, "National Geographic: China's Lost Girls" which I think is a great film to start with for understanding the situation, before you become so involved in these personal stories.

I don't believe only a certain type of person can enjoy this film, but I can see how it would help. I personally prefer dramatic social documentaries instead of fictional dramas, because I feel like I am really getting to know someone and what they have been through. When I cry, I am not crying because of a plausible emotional situation, but I am crying tears for another person.

This film is incredibly moving. You hear what it is like to be an American, raised by white parents as a Chinese born girl. You get to hear some of their tales of facing racism, and feeling like an outsider, as well as how glad they are to have the loving family and opportunities they have as middle class adopted Americans.

You get to see one disabled girl get an opportunity to be adopted, as well as the filmmaker's video of when they adopted their daughter. You can see how terrifying it is to be a Chinese girl handed over to white parents, while at the same time seeing how much love these parents have for their new little girls.

One girl wished to find her birth family, and was lucky enough to do so. It is an extremely moving situation when you get a glimpse of how much her birth family truly loves her.

This film raises questions that all adopted people have to ask themselves, about whether they want to learn their heritage and what that means to them. Certainly, everyone has to choose their own path and what is important to them in life.

This film encapsulates what it is to be an American to me. It doesn't matter what you look like, or your language or where you were born. It matters that either you or your family or whomever made a choice for you to be a part of a culture that has no rules or boundaries. Where we embrace our similarities and differences as people of this world. It's truly a beautiful idea, this nation, where we can come together and see where we came from and know wherever we go, we take this journey together.

The Chinese government's 'one family/one child' policy which began in 1979 had a serious unintended consequence. Because families were told they could only have one child, many families began abandoning their girls. After all, they reasoned, families NEED a boy--they don't need girls (a similar problem has occurred in India, by the way). But, what can they do with all these little girls? Well, there were lots of families around the world who were eager to adopt many of them. This film is about five Chinese girls who were adopted by Americans and chronicles their lives and struggles. It brings up many interesting topics, such as the desire by some to try to locate their birth parents, fitting in with American and Chinese culture and many others. All this is quite interesting--and you really found yourself feeling for the girls. Because of this, a few times I could feel a few tears welling up--so be sure to have some Kleenex handy.

By the way, if you do see the film, you be left wondering a few things, such as how is the girl with cerebral palsy doing today as well as how did the one family have four kids when the government ordered that you could only have one. Thought-provoking, that's for sure.

In 2005, my wife and I adopted our daughter from Hunan, China. We were (and are) perfectly aware that there would be a lot of questions for her (and us) to deal with as the years went by. Right now, at age 8, our daughter's a pretty typical Canadian girl who knows that she was born in China and left outside a school, sent to an orphanage, raised by a foster family and then adopted by us. She's not expressed great interest in China, but we're not going to be surprised if one day she does.

"Somewhere Between" was a documentary that we had to watch. It traces the journey of several now teenaged girls born in China but adopted by Americans and raised in the United States. For us, there are some tug at your heart strings moments - especially the shot of the "adoption room" in Changsha, Hunan, where we first held our little girl. The girls whose stories are being told are remarkably eloquent about their experience and about the challenge of being in some ways torn between two worlds - with Chinese skin but American culture. They respond in different ways to this, and it's interesting to watch. The film stresses the importance of having connections with other Chinese adoptees,and pulls no punches about the presence of racism (even sometimes benign racism) in society.

Most interesting is the story of Haley, who returns to China with her adoptive parents and - defying the odds - manages to track down her birth family. The reunion was touching, but it left me with a lot of questions, especially wondering where the relationship goes from there? It was fascinating that, in her case at least, her father wanted to keep her and it was her mother who actually abandoned her. That's the reverse of what my perception of the situation is. In the midst of the film there are questions raised about whether international adoption should be allowed. I have no answer for that; I'm simply grateful to have my daughter.

This is what I would describe as a "niche" film. It has a definite audience - the Chinese adoption community, if I can refer to myself and others who have adopted from or who have been adopted from China, and their friends/family. Outside that community, this might be of limited appeal. (8/10)